This spell destroys the target minion, then summons a fresh copy of the original minion on the furthest right position on the board.[1]

This will therefore remove any current enchantments and silences from the destroyed minion, making it an effective way to remove granted Taunt and powerful buffs from enemy minions, as well as to remove silences and unwanted enchantments from friendly targets.[2]

If Reincarnate is played on a minion affected by Ancestral Spirit, two copies of that minion will be produced.[3] For example, playing Reincarnate on a Cairne Bloodhoof with the Ancestral Spirit enchantment will result in 2 x Cairne Bloodhoofs, and 1 x Baine Bloodhoof, all on the board at once. Minions can also benefit from more than one Ancestral Spirit buff at once.

If the minion's Deathrattle or another effect triggered from its death results in the board becoming full, the minion will not be re-summoned. For example, using Reincarnate on a Harvest Golem with 7 minions on the board will result in the Damaged Golem taking up the 7th space, thus preventing the Harvest Golem from being re-summoned. For minions such as Haunted Creeper which summon two minions, this limit will be reached even if there were only 6 minions on the board. Since the summoned minion is usually less valuable than the original minion, this is usually undesirable, and care should be taken to avoid this. However, with exceptions such as Nerubian Egg the summoned minion is far more valuable than the original minion, making this of less importance.

The card could also be useful simply for restoring a damaged minion to full Health, as well as restoring any Divine Shield the minion originally came with. Another use is to give a minion with Charge the chance to attack again that turn. Non-Charge minions should attack before being Reincarnated, as they will be exhausted when they are re-summoned.

It can also be used as a buff-removal spell, acting as a pseudo-Silence against any effects that aren't native to a card. Cards that have been given additional stats, Taunt, or other beneficial abilities with other cards/effects can be stripped down to factory settings, allowing many threats to be dealt with or bypassed entirely. Of particular note is that, unlike a Silence effect, using Reincarnate is effective on an Ancient Watcher that has been Silenced or buffed with Taunt, as it puts back the Cannot Attack ability and removes the Taunt simultaneously.

As noted above, Reincarnate has excellent synergy with Ancestral Spirit, allowing the shaman to duplicate a chosen minion. The combination is even more effective if the minion has already attacked, taken damage and/or suffered Silences or debuffs. This also works very well with Charge minions.

One such play is to summon Leeroy Jenkins, attack once, then cast Ancestral Spirit followed by Reincarnate, summoning two fresh Leeroys, and then attack with both of them. This will result in a total of 18 damage for 9 mana, often enough to win the match. Rockbiter Weapon or Lightning Bolt can be used to add further burst to the combo.

Note that if using Reincarnate on a Charge minion in order to deal damage to the enemy hero, it is equivalent to Windfury, but without the lasting benefits.

If Reincarnate is used on Kel'Thuzad, the new minion will revive the original, resulting in 2 copies of Kel'Thuzad on the field. While expensive, this lategame combo is a devastating way to secure board control.

This card was originally announced under the name "Rebirth". Following player feedback through mediums including Twitter and the official forums, less than two weeks later the developers renamed the card to "Reincarnate".[4]

The reason for this change appears to have been due to Rebirth being a druid ability in World of Warcraft, while Reincarnation (very close to "Reincarnate") is a shaman ability. Ben Brode described the original choice of name as an oversight.[5]

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